Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima or “Battleship Island,” ranks among Asia’s most eerie and haunting abandoned places. Thanks to a special tour, we dared to venture deep into its crumbling ruins.
Gunkanjima was one of hundreds of uninhabited islands located about 15 kilometres off the coast of Nagasaki. For centuries, it remained untouched and isolated — a lonely speck in the East China Sea. Its real name Hashima means “island on the edge,” a fitting description of its remote location. Everything changed in 1887, when the Mitsubishi began mining high-grade coal beneath the sea.
Tunnels and shafts stretching up to six kilometres were driven through rock and coal seams 1,000 metres below the seabed. Mining continued for nearly 90 years until the coal reserves were exhausted. By that time, Gunkanjima had become densely populated: over 5,300 men, women, and children lived on the island, giving it a population density of 84,127 inhabitants per square kilometre — one of the highest in the world.
Thirty high-rise apartment blocks were crammed into the small space, forming narrow, dark streets. Light and greenery were mainly found in the roof gardens. A nine-metre-high concrete sea wall protected the island from stormy waves.
Until 2009, entering the “ghost island” Gunkanjima was forbidden. Then, as the tourist potential of abandoned places became clear, Gunkanjima was opened to visitors. Tourists could view the ruins from a safe distance on guided tours, bringing the island’s eerie history to life.
In 2015, Gunkanjima, which resembles a battleship from afar, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, and is now recognized as an important testament to the country’s industrial progress.
Gunkanjima, driver of Innovation
In addition to a seven-storey school for up to 1,500 children, Gunkanjima had a cinema, a pachinko gambling hall, a temple, a shrine, and a supermarket, says Minoru Kinoshita, one of the island’s guides. According to him, Japan’s first reinforced concrete “high-rise,” with 140 apartments, was completed on Hashima in 1916. “That’s exactly where I lived with my family,” he says, showing us photos and pointing to the blackened ruin, where concrete beams buckle and give way.
Minoru-san’s home was less than 200 metres from a large seawater pool, whose remains can still be seen today. “When drained, the pool served as a sports field for us children.”
The flats consisted of a kitchen and a 10-square-metre combined living room and bedroom. Toilets were shared on each floor, and anyone who wanted a bath used the communal bathhouse. Garbage was disposed of via chutes on the façade — another first in Japan.
Top Earners slogging away underground
Our guide, Minoru-san, lived with his parents and siblings on Hashima from 1953 to 1966. He attended the seven-storey school building with over 1,150 other children, and today, standing in front of it, we are filled with amazement. “We were like one big family,” he recalls. “The veterans’ club still meets regularly, once a year we all come back to the island.”
“Working underground was really hard,” Minoru-san adds. “The men toiled at 35 degrees Celsius with nearly 100 per cent humidity. But they earned twice as much as academics!” The miners in the tunnels were well compensated, and since there was no rent to pay, families could save a lot of money.
A lightning-fast end
Hashima was abandoned almost overnight in 1974, when the coal reserves ran out. Its residents left the island within just a few days. Mitsubishi employed many elsewhere, including the large shipyard where Minoru-san worked until his retirement. They left behind fully furnished flats, which remain a frozen snapshot of life at that time.
Today, regular tours usually take dark tourism enthusiasts into a tiny cordoned-off section of Gunkanjima Island after a 45-minute boat ride. We are fortunate enough to join one of the rare special tours, venturing deep into the crumbling ruins and walking through the ghostly urban canyons of this abandoned “Battleship Island.”
Helmets on, every step feels like stepping back in time to a place frozen in decay. We stand in front of the school and the hospital, pass the subterranean supermarket and crumbling apartment blocks, all while accompanied by eyewitness and security guides.
After the island tour, the state-of-the-art Gunkanjima Digital Museum in Nagasaki is a must-see. It features videos, scale models of the island, and virtual reality „flights“ through apartments and stairwells.
Historical Controversy over Gunkanjima
Life on Gunkanjima/Hashima before 1945 raises difficult questions. Some sources claim that forced laborers were used, particularly after Japan’s occupation of Korea during the Second World War, including on Gunkanjima.
Others dismiss this as anti-Japanese propaganda. UNESCO notes that discussions continue, as does the positioning of the Industrial Heritage Information Centre in Tokyo.
In 2020, Japan acknowledged that many Koreans and other people were brought to these sites against their will and forced to work under harsh conditions. Appropriate measures, such as the establishment of an information centre, are planned to commemorate the victims.
Japan stated that it was “ready to take measures that contribute to an understanding that, in the 1940s, a large number of Koreans and others were brought against their will to some of these sites and forced to work there under harsh conditions (…). Japan is ready to include appropriate measures in the interpretive strategy for commemorating the victims, such as the establishment of an information center.”
Getting to Gunkanjima
The boutique airline EVA Air flies from more than 55 cities in North America, Europe, and Asia via Taipei to eight destinations in Japan, including Fukuoka. Price example: Premium Economy tickets from Munich to Taipei and onward to Fukuoka start at €1,850, while the full route in Economy Class begins at €780. From Fukuoka’s Hakata Station, it is a 90-minute train ride on a Limited Express and the Shinkansen to Nagasaki. From there, take one of the boats to Gunkanjima. For information and bookings, visit discover-nagasaki.com
Further information can be found on the official Nagasaki tourism website discover-nagasaki.com and the official Japan tourism website japan.travel/
